'Kolonists' – A Solid 'Settlers of Catan' iPhone Clone
posted July 21st, 2009 12:53 PM EDT by Eli Hodapp in $1.99, Board, Reviews, Strategy, iPhone games, iPod touch games
Any self respecting board game nerd has played Settlers of Catan and likely has a copy sitting on a shelf with at least one of the expansions. Kolonists [App Store] shrinks Catan in to the palm of your hand, combining the core gameplay experience with the iPhone touch interface.
Originally published in 1995, Settlers of Catan is often referred to as the "killer app" of board games both due to its overwhelming popularity and massive international appeal. Catan has sold over 15 million copies and has been translated to over 30 different languages as well as seeing different electronic versions of the game including browser-based applets, an XBOX Live! Arcade game, and now an iPhone game.
The basic idea behind Kolonists is you're a band of settlers on an island and you build farms, villas, and roads to connect them while collecting resources to build even more or trade with other players. Everything you build awards influence points, hit 10 influence, and win the game. (Influence levels can also be changed to 12 or 14 to win in Kolonists.) This is a complete oversimplification of the game, as I've read web sites that consist of nothing but strategy discussion for winning Catan.
The game has an almost Tetris-like appeal to it in that you can learn how to play in a few seconds, but becoming a good player will take much longer. No two games are ever the same because the game board game consists of randomized hex tiles, so one strategy that worked well for you in a previous game may be rendered completely ineffective due to the resource layout of the next game.
The greatest disappointment in Kolonists is the lack of online multiplayer. Since 3.0 came out I've been waiting for great board games like this to all come packed with the ability to play asynchronous multiplayer with push notifications when it's your turn. This functionality would take Kolonists to a whole new level, as the fun part of Catan always has been playing against other people, forming alliances, and eventually betraying those alliances.
There are also some odd rule changes in Kolonists, for instance there are no dice and instead of gathering resources from adjacent tiles, you gather from where you place your worker. This also restricts resource sharing since only one worker can be on a resource space at a time. Finally, there isn't any negotiation to be had with the AI opponents. Your only options for resource trading are pure 3:1 or 4:3 trades to banks or ports. (Thanks, Mrbass.)
If you're new to Settlers of Catan, check out the Wikipedia article for more in-depth rules. Kolonists is the best way to play on the iPhone, and it provides a pretty decent Catan experience. If multiplayer is your thing, I'd check out the free JSettlers java game, look in to the XBOX Live! Arcade game, or better yet, pick up the board game.
App Store Link: Kolonists, $1.99
Sweet!!! I hoped Settlers of Catan would eventually come to the iPhone.
this game is nothing like the setlers. I would love to see if the writer really played a colonist game in his life ever … lol
The original was the game of choice among my college friends, so yes, I've played it and most of the expansions.
You're confusing SETTLERS OF CATAN, the board game, with THE SETTLERS, an old Amiga title by Blue Byte (currently Ubisoft).
this game is really well made. Just wish it had online/bluetooth play and you could enable rolling the dice.
1995 not 1955. Anway I've played about 6 or 7 games of this and still up in the air wheter I want to recommend it or not. Polished for sure graphically. But no dice and your houses don't gather from the 3 adjacent hexes but rather from only 1 wherever your worker is. Can't share them either as only one player's work can occupy hex. Not negotiotion either just pure trading 4:1, 3:1 to bank or ports respectively.
I prefer the german original to all of it!
Calling this game a Catan clone is a bit of a stretch! No trading and no dice. I\'ll pass.
It would be awesome if this: http://www.s3dconnector.net/ was ported to the iPhone, but seeing as there isn\'t even an OS X version, it won\'t happen.
I'm going to have to agree with Eli, if a game like this gets push notification how could I resist?
I bot it a few days ago and really enjoy it, I mean for 2 bucks can't beat it! I just bought Monty Python Fluxx game at the game store for $20 yesterday, so when a designer game comes to the iPhone, it's quite a treat. I personally am not much for a "Roman-esc" theme, and would love dice, but it's def polished and fun.
I LOVE Settlers of Catan, saw this come in and am definitely going to give it a try. I think the XBLA game is pretty flawless in it's execution, I'd love to see a direct port of that.
Oh, I wish they'll make iPhone version of Civilization. That is such a cool game! Have played all 4 of them.
I do think Eli ought to mention in the article that it isn't entirely the same as Settlers, with the use of workers instead of dice. That is a key difference. That said, I've been playing and enjoying this for a good while. My one complaint with the current version would be that occasionally the AI gets stuck and takes an absurdly long time to plan its next move.
I'm glad to see a Settlers like game on the iPhone, but the fact that it doesn't use the numbered hexes and dice to determine resources makes a HUGE difference in how the game is played, which is not at all like Catan. It definitely adds a new dynamic to the game, but I'm not really sure I like it. I guess it does force you to plan ahead as to what resources you think you're going to need in the future.
Noone has mentioned "Settledown", which is supposed to be an exact clone of Catan.
Has anyone tried it?
This is the only game I have bought that constantly crashes. New OS. 3GS. It seems really fun, but after abotu 10-15 minutes, it will put you back on your main phone menu. Other then that, very fun.
I'm sad to see so much work went into a game that isn't really original and can't actually be Catan either.
Would be nice if someone would make Carcassonne (or a clone.) If one exists, please speak up!
I almost bought it. Then I played it on a friend's iPod and now I'm leaving it be. It isn't at all like Settlers of Catan. It looks kind of like it, but it plays completely different.
How about official game releases for:
Puerto Rico
Agricola
and yes
Carcassonne could be cool with the multi-touch tile rotation and zooming.
Catan has always frustrated me, personally. Not enough chances to make decisions that matter for your game. It can still be fun though.
I also have an idea for an iPhone game that should appeal to people who like these games. Maybe after Snowball Touch releases I'll start putting some real effort into it.
Race for the Galaxy or Dungeon Twister online multiplayer would be cool.
Or I should say Munchkin. I wonder if there's any Steve Jackson Games comin out besides the Munchkin Counter app I just found released like a month ago.
Catan for the iPhone is coming, according to an announcement on Catan.com:
http://catan.com/gamenews/187-catan-for-iphone.html
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